


Supernatural 3.01 review

by yourlibrarian



Series: Supernatural Reviews [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode Review, Episode: s03e01 The Magnificent Seven, Gen, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:22:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29947185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Originally posted October 5, 2007.
Series: Supernatural Reviews [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202249
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	Supernatural 3.01 review

Some general thoughts on the premiere of Supernatural.

I am vaguely reminded of the premiere of Angel S5. For one, that show not only got new (old) characters but also was a retooling of the show’s premise. I felt much the same for this one.

For starters the recap was nearly unnecessary in terms of actual information content. Instead, it seemed to be telling (new) viewers what they could expect to find in this box of cornflakes. As usual, great use of music.

I liked the retooled opening credit too, which also seemed to be abandoning the original storyline with its fire motif for a new one. What I thought was interesting was the use of the Scorpio symbol in the new logo flash. In astrology, Scorpio is the sign of regeneration and sometimes the Phoenix is used (in itself, a rebirth rising from the fire). It made me wonder if this wasn’t some kind of hint of what’s going to happen with Dean’s deal.

Also making me think of Angel S5 is the envious-about-to-become-victim suburban guy. Not him so much as his house, which made me immediately think of Lindsey’s W&H holding dimension. I’m really curious if they filmed this in the same place. So, did the other victims attract the demons to them by thinking/feeling the wrong things at the wrong time? Good thing Dean was nowhere in the area.

“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” is a hilarious choice given Sam’s scarred eyeballs. Also? How many foursome stories got written 2 hours after this premeried? And oddly I found myself thinking of Brian and Michael growing up together in QaF in terms of how many times Sam has gone through this routine in his life and how tired of it he must be.

How are cicadas connected to locusts? I was very confused about that because it's not the case scientifically.

Another of the ways I thought this episode had a very different feel to it was (1) That we had Bobby and the boys working as a team from the get-go and (2) the way that Sam and Dean moved together inside the house. There just seemed to be something ever more polished and professional about it. I’ve no idea if it was deliberate.

I am curious about the reason for the Dallas rerun. Of all the clips of things that could be running, Lucy Ewing’s line about having one’s birthday used by the villain and the line about hating family? Hmm.

Loved the camera shot from Dean’s POV on the ground and the hand sticking up.

I am confused however about what came next. Granted this is TV and normal logic does not apply but presumably if an autopsy has been done it’s been at least a day since they discovered the family. Where is the group? In Isaac and Tamara’s house? You'd think it would be more stocked with weaponry if so.

I notice that despite the retooling for the season there’s no time being spent at all on exposition. Which is kind of nice for the regular viewer, but I don’t know about new ones. For example there is a brief mention of Bobby posing as an assistant DA but none at all as to how they get access to the video camera footage when the police are still on the scene right outside. There’s also later no explanation as to how Sam found the possession victim’s name or that he went missing from Illinois. Lastly, one thing that wasn't covered in the "Previously" montage was an explanation of the devil's trap and exorcism which popped up numerous times here.

I’m kind of amazed Dean missed any opportunity to drive the Impala, instead taking Bobby’s car. OTOH maybe this was to avoid damage to an Impala with the stunt.

I thought the actor who played Envy was quite good. He was saddled with some less than stellar dialogue and pulled it off pretty well.

Bobby’s shouting! This and other things in the episode also made me note how while Sam and Dean are still front and center, there’s more room being made for other characters instead of just being sidekicks and standbys. Oddly enough this episode, more than anything going on in the Roadhouse, gave me a better feeling of how the two are part of something larger that has very little to do with them. Almost like a step back. I kind of liked it.

I also liked the quiet scene between Sam and Dean before the fight. At the same time the fight itself intrigued me for one reason, which is that Bobby took the time to start exorcising Sloth, and Dean stayed tied up long enough with one demon that Sam was left with 3 demons and no back-up. Obviously this gives Ruby the chance to step in and really do something but it’s still a hard move for me to imagine from S2 Dean.

This was only highlighted to me in the final scene. (And if we want to talk about TV realism, I have always rolled my eyes at the body burning, because for one thing the stench would be terrible and second the heat would have to be much greater than it is to burn bones. And it’s interesting how four people drive off leaving presumably raging fires going. I'd have to question how much I want the Winchesters coming to my town.)

Back to Dean, he kids Sam about being saved by Ruby. Maybe he’s using humor as a cover but I have a hard time imagining earlier Dean not beating himself up over the fact that Sam would have surely died but for a stroke of blind luck. I have to wonder if feeling like there’s a light at the end of a tunnel and feeling better than he has in a long time, doesn’t have a lot to do with the fact that he’s stopped seeing himself as Sam’s keeper. Now that he’s paid the ultimate price, Sam no longer seems to be his focus. He says it himself, after all he’s done, he’s going to take his moment to be selfish. It’s an interesting twist.

That possible move, along with the deliberate shunting aside of Sam’s quest to save him, makes me wonder if this isn’t a deliberate effort to move away from the angst-heavy S2 by sidelining Dean’s deal. It certainly seems to open up time for new storylines which have nothing to do wih it.

In terms of approach, SPN is grim and Hobbesian; bad things simply happen to innocent people with no rhyme or reason and the end of the road is uncertain. Certainly SPN S3 is a prime example of that. The original family mission has been successfully completed. However that doesn't seem to have resolved in much of any benefit to either of them -- Dean's going to die shortly and both are currently embroiled in a continuing war. Although it's too soon to tell, it's possible from what the demons said that the two would be targets even if they did try to quit.

What's particularly interesting is what happens after death. As was discussed explicitly in Roadkill, no one knows what happens to the human spirit though there are clearly lifeforms that exist outside of human lifespans and in IMToD there's an explanation that the human spirit degrades over time to become something inhuman and mindless if it doesn't transition. Given what Envy discussed in this episode, maybe what demons are is those residual humans whose spirit managed to endure and morph instead of degrade like ghosts. By comparison, under normal circumstances it's possible that humans simply cease to exist and lose any kind of personal identity at all. It seems to me entirely likely that that's what "letting go" really means -- not just letting go of one's human concerns but of the identity that makes those concerns meaningful. Who knows if we'll find out still more in SPN. 

As a season opener I think it’s hard to top IMToD (which was so important in terms of the family arc and the overall story development) and the Pilot (which set up the series quite well). But I think in terms of setting a tone, MS has done pretty well and I, at least, was not disappointed.


End file.
